


Break a Leg

by flippednique



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: All the relationships are slow burn, Christophe Giacometti: Performance - Circus, Emil Nekola: Live Art Performance: Sketching, I will focus on each character separately, Jean-Jacques Leroy: Music: Opera, Ji Guang-Hong: Music - Violin, Katsuki Yuuri: Performance - Circus, Lee Seung-gil: Music Major - Piano, Leo de la Iglesia: Music - Cello, M/M, Michele Crispino: Dance - Ballroom, Mila Babicheva: Music - Modern Song, Otabek Altin: Music - Composition, Phichit Chulanont: Musical Theater Major, Sara Crispino: Dance - Ballroom, Viktor Nikiforov: Theater Major, Yuri Plisetsky: Dance - Ballet, and Induction, initially inspired by SOTUS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 21:01:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12117156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flippednique/pseuds/flippednique
Summary: Seung-gil made a soft noise into his microphone. "I think you should be scared."The buzzing was silenced like a moth to a flame and all the seniors on stage seemed to change. If Phichit thought that they had been untouchable before, at this moment, they were simply... he couldn't even put a word to it. Haughty. As if they were Royalty and they absolutely knew it. It made Phichit feel like curling into a ball and disappearing from the world. It made him feel like a worm. No, even smaller than that. It made him feel like dirt."None of you are simply ordinary. This isn't amateur hour. You're great, yeah? But you can be better, the person beside you can be fucking amazing. Either you break yourself trying to make it, or we break you."Phichit Chulanont has been accepted into what was one of the most sought after universities for the Performing Arts. All the people around him were here to flourish under the attentions of the very same people that made big names in the real world. That is, if they make it past the tests and trials of the first semester.





	Break a Leg

Phichit Chulanont took one look at the stage and felt an almost full body shiver go through his very being. If that’s how he felt in one of the comfortable padded chairs somewhere amongst the hundreds in the audience, he was almost afraid to think of what it would actually be like to stand on the actual stage, spotlight and all. The silence in the room was absolute, no one dared to even maybe breathe. The auditorium was rumored to be one of, if not the most, biggest found in a mere University. For some, it made sense since this particular Uni had over two hundred students in their freshmen level alone just that year. A huge population begot a huge auditorium, especially since their school catered to the many performing arts and oh, how their students grew to become stars. 

That was the very reason why Phichit was here and not back in Thailand. If he wanted to be the best in the business, then he would have to work with only the best of the best as well. Already he felt the thrum of energy course through his bones. He would not have it easy here; he knew just about how things worked. As a freshman, he would have to do something, anything to stand out. As a theater major, he would have to start at the bottom, where they all did, and claw his way to the top. He’d be insanely lucky to make it to the stage as an extra this year. He’d kill to be even a just a tree. But what is he talking about? This was a financed theater program; of course they’d have the budget for actual trees.

No pain, no glory. The games, in Phichit’s mind, had all already begun.

_ 'It would all be worth it. Missing home and living all by myself in a foreign city, throwing away the chance to take over the family business.’  _ Phichit  rubbed at his chest absently, trying to stifle the slight twinges of pain he felt at the thought of being separated from his family and possibly letting them down in the only way he could. And yet he opted to stay optimistic since it was all he really had now.  _‘It’s all going to be worth it.’_

The person beside him must be just as tense as he was, but in contrast to Phichit who was having a very difficult time keeping still (a habit he’s had since he was a baby and had failed to lose even at the age of twenty), the other person was sitting stock still.

“Hey,” Ever the socialite, Phichit raised his voice to a slight whisper, the loudest he dared to go with the orientation program so close to starting, and smiled warmly when he got an immediate response.

“H-Hello…” The other man had a slight accent, and now that Phichit got a good look at him, well as good a look as the dim lighting could provide, he decidedly looked Asian. Not Thai though,  _hmm Japanese? His L's are mixing up into R's. Gotta be Japanese._

"I'm Phichit. Theater major." 

"Y-Yuuri."

Phichit offered a hand which Yuuri took, the later gave him a small smile. It was a smile that didn't belong on the face of a performing artist. The only other people Phichit knew that shared his craft were people who could handle themselves on a stage. Yuuri looked like the type to shy away from people and perhaps even keep to himself completely, if given the chance. If that was the case, then what was he doing here? 

_'Live performer, maybe? Probably not used to the stage or maybe he's just now discovering his craft.'_ Phichit thought as they shook hands more firmly and Yuuri flashed him that smile again, a smile that spoke of a slight insecurity but a willingness to get past that. ' _That right there, that I can work with.'_

"What's your major?" He asked though just to be sure. After all, if they were going to be friends then he'd have to know which department his friend would be coming from if he was ever late to lunch or a night out. And Yuuri would be his friend, Phichit would make sure of that. He would turn that small smile of Yuuri's into one of pride for his craft and his self. Self-esteem, was one of the easiest to lose in their line of work. 

As performers, not only did they use their body but they bared their whole soul for the audience to see, to taste, to feel. It was definitely something to bring out everything you had in you only to be cast aside as unimportant. Here, this was their domain and he would help Yuuri rule it with confidence and belief in himself. A slight twinge in Phichit's heart had him clutching at his chest again. He would not lose another person to anxiety or depression. He would not lose another to the dark thoughts in ones head.

"I'm in the Circ Program." Yuuri said after a beat, loud enough and firm enough to snap Phichit out of his growing funk. "It's the one being developed for upcoming circus performers." 

"I heard about that." Phichit said, suddenly excited. "There's only supposed to be fifty incoming students in this batch, right? They upgraded it from the original twenty-five last year?" 

"Yes." Yuuri looked a little gobsmacked that anyone knew what his program was and Phichit added that to the list of things that made Yuuri seem like he didn't belong here. Anyone with a craft would be interested in another craft, or so was Phichit's own personal belief. They were all they truly had. So many people in the world did not believe that they could go far and reach their dreams, what with so many of them reaching for the same things. If they didn't support one another, then they would all crash and burn. 

Phichit hoped by the end of the semester, if not the week, he could make Yuuri see that this place, though the equivalent of hell to the studying, would be his home for the next four years and the people he would meet, hopefully with Phichit included, would become his family. 

Yuuri's smile was bigger now, with more feeling and it warmed Phichit to see it right until the lights completely turned off and everyone's focus was on the stage. 

"Welcome freshmen!" The person in the middle was probably a senior, his tall and lean build suggested a lot of dancing but his voice was also cool and clear.  _Theater?_ Phichit wondered. Was this one of his direct seniors? Would he be chasing after this man for the better part of his year? What was his name? Almost as if hearing those thoughts, the man tossed his ash blond hair, which was longer than most guys kept it, over his shoulder and sent the auditorium a smile that was magnified on the screen behind him. "I am Viktor, Theater representative. I'm this year's Upper Senior which means that if any of you need anything and can't find your respective major seniors, you come see me."

An excited buzz went through the auditorium, Phichit took the moment to look around himself. Well... such a reaction was probably warranted, Viktor looked extremely attractive. A ton of freshmen would probably pull the _helpless junior_ act in the hopes of getting his time and attention. Beside him, Phichit was vaguely aware of the slight flush on Yuuri's face and after a second, the hand that smacked over his mouth. What was that reaction for? 

"Don't tell them that, the idiots will be banging on your door for no reason." A tiny blond, (he was really small, this was a senior?) all but sent his foot into Viktor's shin as he spoke into his mic, throwing the audience a sharp glare, shutting them all up and for some (Yuuri) back into attention. "My name is Yuri Plisetsky, Dance, specifically ballet. If you need help with  _important_ shit, you'll find me at the dance hall or... something." 

This went on for a while, seniors of different majors introduced themselves, some (or a **_LOT_** ) were a lot more friendly than the Ballet Rep, maybe a tad  _too friendly_ was Phichit's thoughts as Yuuri's senior from Circ. winked at the crowd and blew a kiss with a very drawn out, ' _Bonsoir~!'_ into the microphone in a really deep voice that sparked a flame in many of the freshmen's already butterfly filled stomachs. Phichit felt his cheeks flush just the littlest bit, wow that was some amazing sex appeal. 

Then there were people who were kind of all over the place, like the Dance - Ballroom seniors. (" _You all stay away from my little sister!", "Mickey!")_ and the Performance - Magic and Illusions senior, (" _I as Caraboss will put you under my spell!"),_ and the Mime Major who turned out to be Yuuri's big sister, (" _Amazing!")._

All in all it made for an interesting bunch, and wasn't that the biggest understatement of the century? Phichit grinned at the thought. All the people around him were here to flourish under the attentions of the very same people that made big names in the real world. 

Then there were some just as... untouchable as Yuri had appeared."Seung-gil Lee, Music, specifically Piano. We have about fifty in the music building alone, schedule a time and day for your personal practice and show up when you're expected to. If you lose your piano, don't come crying to me. Good day." 

Phichit eyed the Piano Major with a raised brow, he spoke with a lot more formality without the cursing that Yuri had done and had been about as warm as an icicle from somewhere like Norway but he looked Korean or maybe... Thai? No, he'd know if this man was Thai and he was most definitely not Thai. He kept tabs on everyone who attended this Uni in the hopes of keeping homesickness at bay.

"Well, there you have it," Viktor said as he once again gained everyone's attention. "Tomorrow, you guys get to attend your very first classes as students of our beloved alma mater. I can assure you that even with so many of you this year, how many exactly?" 

"Two hundred and nineteen." Christophe, the Circ Rep said, winking. "That's a  _lot_ of people to look after and get to know. We'll have the biggest parties." 

Phichit already knew that, he'd made sure to know. The number of people that is, in his batch. There was a lot of laughter in response to Chris' comment though, of course Uni had parties. Uni was half about parties and half about getting through to graduation. 

Seung-gil made a soft noise into his microphone as the audience's buzzing grew louder as apparently this was news to them. "That's nothing compared to the five hundred in last years batch. The one that got cut into a _quarter_. We only have a hundred or so sophomores left. You guys shouldn't sound so happy about being around two hundred. In fact, I think you should be _scared_." 

The buzzing was silenced like a moth to a flame and Viktor, no not just him, but all the seniors on stage seemed to change. If Phichit thought that they had been untouchable before, at this moment, they were simply... he couldn't even put a word to it. Haughty. As if they were Royalty and they absolutely knew it. It made Phichit feel like curling into a ball and disappearing from the world. It made him feel like a worm. No, smaller than that. It made him feel like dirt. 

Sara Crispino's, Dance-Ballroom Rep, had a smirk so sharp it looked like it could cut glass if she'd wanted it to. "You know who we are but you do not know our story. You do not know what we've done to make it to this stage." 

"This university is not for cry babies." Michele Crispino, the very same person who had been nearly in hysterics with regard to his baby sister shot them all a haughty look that seemed to belong on a Don's face. "You will be tried, tested, every day until you can get up on this stage. The Dance department will not tolerate laziness. No department really will." 

"Practice, practice, practice." Yuri said, as if this was his own personal prayer. "If you think that sleep is more important than getting your routine right, I'll kick you out of the halls myself." 

"Treat every craft with respect." Yuuri's sister, Mari, said. A fierce determination in her gaze, understandable since her major was Mime Performance. Phichit dreaded to think how many people had mocked her for it. "You're about to lose as much sleep, sweat, and tears as the person sitting beside you."

"Passion above all." Georgi Popovich said, waving his hands in the air and making a rose appear out of nowhere. "You all have six months in the first semester, six months to prove that you deserve to be here. Finals are, as always and as expected, a demonstration of your crafts. Each department will hold their own showcase presentation, one department a day to accommodate you all."

"The seniors take their roles very seriously of course," Sara said, wagging her index finger flippantly. "You have to report annually on your progress. Routines, plots, sketches, lyrics, whatever it is that you need for your final exam has to be approved of by the Student Council. We have the right to reject your idea for your final if it doesn't seem up to the Uni's standards." 

A round of shocked and incredulous remarks came around and Viktor held up a hand, magically silencing it all. "We are aware that you are here because you are the best of whatever your craft is, from wherever it was that you came from. But look around you _now_. What you had to go through, the people around you have done if not more. The initial screening test to get into the Uni are, as you know, taken very seriously. That means-"

"That means that none of you are _ordinary_. This isn't amateur hour. You're great, yeah? But you can be better, the person beside you can be fucking  _amazing._ Either you break _yourself_ trying to make it, or _we_ break _you_." Yuri cut in, glaring at Viktor. "You talk too much, I need to get back to the studio."  

Viktor said nothing, apparently satisfied. 

The freshmen are nothing but silent statues.

"Oh come now," Christophe chirps trying to break the now tense atmosphere. "You'll have fun, you're about to start your journey in developing your craft. You will be doing the thing you love so much you gave up everything for it! Now is not the time to sit there and be scared. If anything, use that fear to fuel yourself. Make your name stand out." 

Viktor clapped his hands once, loud in the auditorium. "Go have dinner, relax a bit, but not too much. Tomorrow... Tomorrow is a brand new day." 

The seniors began to leave the stage, the lights slowly turning on as to avoid traumatizing the freshmen even further. 

"Go to bed early so you won't be late!" Mari called to them all, the last one off the stage. For a second she seemed to focus where they were and Phichit felt his heart all but jump out of his chest before he realized that she was probably looking at her little brother. 

_'Like I could get any sleep now that you've made it so clear that we're all here on borrowed time.'_ Phichit thought wryly as he clapped along with everybody else, obligatory and half-hearted. He wished the different majors and departments good luck, eyeing the spot where Viktor had stood subtly threatening them all with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. Perhaps he wouldn't be having it as tough as everybody else since his senior was one of the more friendlier people. But then again, Viktor was the Upper Senior, that meant he'd have to deal with double the amount of people a regular senior had on top of schoolwork and what must also be the road to graduation. And he knew better than to judge a book by its cover, Viktor was a Theater major, how many skins did the man have over his real personality? 

Phichit glanced at Yuuri beside him, the man looked paler than he had been before. "Are you okay?" 

"I guess..." Yuuri cleared his throat, looking at him properly for the first time that night. "That was intense."

"No kidding." Phichit rubbed the back of his neck. "They're pretty serious about the 'weeding' process, aren't they? Take them out all out in first year."

"It wouldn't make sense to keep them any longer than that. A hundred other people would kill for a spot." Yuuri nibbled on his bottom lip for a moment. "I'm kind of excited."

"Same." Phichit grinned. "I have almost a hundred different ideas zooming through my head right now, I kinda wish I could write them all down."

"Why don't you?" Yuuri wondered.

"I'm talking to you, it would be rude." Phichit shrugged his shoulders. "Wanna go get dinner? It's not that late." 

Yuuri, again with the surprise, took a moment to answer with a nod. "There's this diner at the back of the Uni that's 24/7. Burgers and milkshakes?"

"How very American." Phichit laughed then nodded. He and Yuuri made their way down, slowly, not wanting to risk any injuries before their first day. 

It wasn't until Phichit had nearly knocked Yuuri's eye out with an extremely long french fry and Yuuri had laughed so hard he almost coughed out a lung that Phichit declared what he'd thought the moment he met him.

"We're gonna be best friends." 

And we're gonna survive this together.

They headed back to their dorms, having to separate midway since the College of Musical Theater and College of Live Performances were on different ends of the campus. 

"I hope I don't make the teacher hate me by just breathing tomorrow." Yuuri mumbled.

Phichit squeezed his new friend's shoulder, hoping it will last him until tomorrow. "Break a leg." 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was not BETA read ahahaha, I actually really wanna continue this one. The potential for how the relationships and characters themselves develop are just askfskg so I really wanna finish it. 
> 
> Also, there needs to be longer Seungchuchu stories!!
> 
> ALSO ALSO! I have taken a lot of creative liberty with this. Please don't take anything seriously, I'm not even sure I got the programs right. If anyone would like to tell me about how Performing Arts schools work, I'd be really grateful!


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